The American: Open For BusinessUConn's new league is here and begins business on Monday morning.

Jonathan the Husky Dog is in the American spirit.

June 30, 2013

In hindsight, we probably shouldn't open for business until three days from now. After all, what's more American than the Fourth of July?

But after a process that has taken the better part of the last two years to complete, you can't blame us for opening our doors the minute we become official. So July 1 it is.

Indeed, it's a new day in college athletics. The seemingly endless game of musical chairs appears to have stopped. Some old rivalries are gone. Some new ones will be nurtured - a few simply through geographic proximity; others through what happens on the fields of play.

Either way, the time to dwell on the past is over. The American Athletic Conference is here. Armed with a good name, an attractive graphic identity and top-of-the-line institutions, The American will be able to carve its niche in a crowded field from Day 1.

Our teams will be nationally competitive in every sport. We will be the embodiment of character, scholarship, citizenship and success. We will be a fixture on television and an innovator in digital media. We consist of schools that have a history of success and have invested the resources to go even further. The American will provide them with that platform.

We start with 10 schools: UCF, UConn, Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Rutgers, USF, SMU and Temple. Within two years, the conference will have 12 teams on board, including East Carolina, Navy, Tulane and Tulsa.

We will be competitive right away.

In football, we have three teams that won 10 games last year. The only league with more? The SEC.

In basketball, we will have the sitting NCAA men's and women's champions. And we will have multiple contenders to win the 2014 titles.

In baseball, soccer, track & field, softball, volleyball and other sports, you'll see multiple American teams in NCAA competition.

We will be easy to find on television, thanks to our partnerships with ESPN and CBS Sports. We will have an incredible number of games on national television and we'll have the backing of the two industry leaders in sports television.

Our new website will be clean, informative and current - and will be available on any desktop or mobile device.